Hi all - as many of you know insulin is a very powerful drug, it can and does save numerous lives daily. However, it can also be fatal in the wrong dosages from human error. As I found out the wrong way on my honeymoon, even accidentally taking the wrong insulin can lead to serious complications! The reason I bring this up is because I came across another great invention that will help in the safety of insulin delivery. For the many people using insulin pens, FDA has approved the new NovoPen Echo that has a built in memory for insulin delivery.

How many times has your mind been somewhere else while administering your insulin? When you finish your delivery, you are not entirely sure exactly how much you just dosed? I know I have done it a few times and it is an unsettling feeling. There have also been times when I couldn't recall if I even gave myself a shot or not! I am not a person that gets easily disctracted, but it does happen. I couldn't imagine if people with memory issues had diabetes! Also, this would be really helpful for parents with children to be able to see their dosages and time spans between. It is great to see the developments in diabetes management in the effort to heighten insulin delivery safety.

Below is just a generic photo I found online and as you can tell, it has a lot of marketing jargon. The only pieces I would like to call out are the memory function and half-unit dosing. This pen is expected to become available in the US in early 2014.

This would be especially helpful with long-acting insulin. When I was on MDI, I can't tell you how many times I forgot if I had taken my Lantus or not -- and the repercussions of double-dosing or missing it would last an entire day. At least with fast-acting insulin for a meal, if I forgot if I took it or not, I could give half, then keep an eye on things and treat the resulting high or low appropriately, and be back to normal in a few hours.

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Bram

10/22/2013 2:37pm

Hi Scott - you are absolutely correct. My biggest issue is with Lantus because I usually take it first thing when I wake up and im usually thinking about a ton of other things. The repercussions of the long acting insulins does screw with you all day! Great call out!

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BRAM HUTCHINSON

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